By GREG WILLIS Special to the Daily Press
DOWNTOWN — Ike Turner, the king of rhythm, is in town. He plays tonight at Harvelle’s Blues Club on Fourth Street, the oldest blues club on the Westside.
Turner, 72, is “The Man” when it comes to making music to drive by. Turner was in the car on his way to Sam Philips Recording Studio in Memphis when he wrote “Rocket 88,” perhaps the first rock-and-roll song of all time. He got to the studio about three years before Elvis Presley, who came there while running around town, working as a truck driver.
I have a pretty good feeling that Ike Turner is a better driver than Elvis Presley ever was. That matters to me, because I am a truck driver and a former roadie. I love to listen to music as I do my job. I have been listening to music in powerful vehicles since I was a child.
I come from suburban middle America, where fast cars, music, and the pursuit of lovely women is a vocation. My white father brought me up on Louis Armstrong and Jackie Gleason — he was discerning and color blind when it came to his choice of entertainment.
Turner is mentioned in the third edition of the “All Music Guide to The Blues,” the definitive guide, about 20 times before you get to his entry. It’s a long way from A to T, and Turner seems to have been very busy in the years after his arrival at Sun Studios. He surreptitiously recorded the “Great Howlin Wolf” in Sam’s studio on the sly, and it appears he was all over the map in his travels.
Along the way he was a talent scout who gave many musicians their start in the business. He also played with most of them, first on piano and then on guitar.
Among them are B.B. King and the Beale Streeters, Billy the Kid Emerson, Jackie Brenston, Hank Crawford, Robert Mojo Elem, Lowman Pauling, Roscoe Gordon, Frankie Lee, Earl Hooker, Little Milton, Clayton Love, Junior Parker, Otis Rush, Eddie Shaw, Rufus Thomas and Elmore James. He discovered and nurtured Anna Mae Bullock musically, and he made her into the star she is today. He seems to have been very generous with his time, color blind when it came to music, relentless in his pursuit of good talent. He had to be a good driver, as he must have gone all over the south in pursuit of hot talent at juke joints.
A man faces dangers when he leaves his home to pursue his dreams, and I can tell you first hand what it is like to go on the road with a traveling music show, because I’ve done it for Prince. It is a grueling endurance contest, and Turner seems to have fared pretty well over the years.
No matter that I’ve been present at many great moments in rock-and-roll history — to say I am excited at the prospect of seeing Turner is an enormous understatement. Cevin Clark, Harvelle’s proprietor, is a man that understands musicians. He’s not going to publicize or sell any advance tickets to this performance. You have to wait in line in front of Harvelle’s to get in.
Turner personally told Clark he would do the show while upstairs at Harvelle’s, in the room where all the latest recording equipment is. That equipment will be used Aug. 21 by Paul Warren, Tina Turner’s former guitarist. Warren has been all over the world with Turner’s ex. We don’t talk about her.
Monica, my 9-year-old daughter, weighs in with an opinion about Turner. She forgives him for any bad he has done, says we all make mistakes. She also says she wasn’t happy to find his recordings aren’t readily available. The great rock critic Lester Bangs said that Turner’s 1963 Crown Records release “Ike Turner Rocks The Blues” was the greatest guitar album ever made. I’m not happy we did-n’t find it when we went to do research on Turner.
I have traveled with a famous multi-talented performer who is equally at home on piano or guitar, and I wanted to compare Prince to Turner. I know Prince, and my daughter and I are going to meet Turner. Monica has already met B.B. King and Dr. John, and she is very excited at the thought of meeting her daddy’s personal hero.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 17, 2004. Read the original PDF.